Definition of "affectation" []

• A show, pretense, or display. (noun)
• Behavior that is assumed rather than natural; artificiality. (noun)
• A particular habit, as of speech or dress, adopted to give a false impression. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Mr. Moncton laughed at what he termed my affectation of moral integrity, and tried by every art to seduce me to join in amusements, and visit scenes, from which my mind revolted; and his own example served to strengthen my disgust."
• "(a sentence to which Scott's description of him as “a man of great genius” may be successfully opposed); and is especially severe on what he terms his affectation in disclaiming the compliments bestowed on his learning by some of his friends."
• "I think a lot of characters start in affectation and then build from there."